EPISODE SIX—FIRST DAY BACK

CHLOE

The shadow disappeared.

I kept staring at the glass panel, my heart beating fast. Maybe it was just a nurse passing by. Or someone looking for another patient's room.

I pulled the blanket closer and dropped my phone on the other side of the bed. Sterling told me not to look at UT Confessions, and I didn't listen. Now I couldn't get the comments and picture out of my mind.

A soft knock interrupted me, and my mother walked in with her handbag and a bottle of water.

"Baby? You're still awake?"

I forced my breathing to calm down. "I was about to sleep."

She placed her things on the chair and came closer, touching my forehead the way she always did when she was checking if I was lying.

"Did something happen? You look pale."

"Just tired."

She didn't believe me, but she didn't push. Since everything happened—the pregnancy, Jace, Jenna—she had stopped asking too many questions. Instead, she simply showed up. Every day. Holding my hand like she could transfer her strength to me.

That made the guilt heavier.

"Mom? Are you still thinking about the transfer?"

Her hand paused on my blanket.

"Of course I am." She had brought it up earlier that same day, long before Jenna showed up with flowers. "How can I stop when I know what those two are capable of? Chloe, I'm your mother. I'm supposed to protect you."

"You didn't do anything wrong."

"I know, but I still worry. I don't want you going back there only for them to hurt you again. We can find another school. A better environment."

I looked at our joined hands. Her fingers were rough from work.

"Mom, I get why you're scared. I'm scared too. But I can't leave."

"Why?"

I took a deep breath.

"Because I can't give up, Mom. I can't. I can't give up my college, my career, everything I'm pursuing just because of Jace and Jenna. If I leave now, it means they won. It means they chased me out of my own life. I'm not going to let them take my education away from me."

Her eyes watered instantly.

"You should have thought about that before getting yourself into this mess, Chloe," she said, her voice low. Not cruel. Tired. Hurt.

"I know," I whispered.

Silence fell. The monitor beeped.

Then she squeezed my hand hard. "I'm not saying it to punish you, baby. I just wish you had been more careful about who you trusted. Especially Jenna. I never liked how she looked at things that were yours."

"So do I. I wish I had been careful too."

My voice broke, and tears came for the baby I lost, for the friendship that had lasted since we entered college, and for Jace.

She hugged me, careful of my IV. "Don't cry. Don't cry."

When I calmed down, she wiped my face with her palm.

"Okay. If staying is what you want, I will stand by you. But promise me that if anything happens, you tell me immediately. No more hiding because you think you can handle it alone."

"I promise."

"And if you change your mind, we transfer. No shame."

"Okay."

She stayed a little longer, talking about ordinary things until my eyes grew heavy. Before leaving, she tucked the blanket around me like I was seven again.

"Sleep. I'll be here early."

When she left, the room felt less cold.

I was discharged after four days in the hospital.

During the five days that followed, Sterling visited. Not every day, but often enough that I started expecting his quiet knock. He never stayed long. He would come with small paper bags—sometimes mangoes, sometimes apples, sometimes just water and snacks.

He didn't say much. He wasn't one for conversations. He would simply place the bag on the small table beside my bed, ask how I felt in that low voice, avoid eye contact like looking at me directly was too much, wait for my answer, then leave.

He never asked about the baby. Never asked me to explain what happened with Jace. He simply showed up.

Ten days after the incident, I stood in front of my bedroom mirror, trying to convince myself I was ready.

The doctor had said I was stable enough to resume my normal activities as I felt able. Physically, I was better. The sharp pain had dulled to an ache that came and went. But emotionally? Some mornings I woke up and for two seconds I forgot. Then everything rushed back.

"You can do this, Chloe," I told my reflection. My voice didn't sound convinced.

Monday morning, I packed my books, wore a simple long-sleeved shirt and jeans, and brushed my hair back. No makeup. I didn't have the energy to pretend to be pretty.

The bus ride to college felt too long. I stared out the window, rehearsing what I would do. Maybe nobody would talk. Maybe the account had moved on. Maybe I could just enter class and disappear in my seat.

By the time I arrived, my palms were sweating.

I stepped into the building.

For five seconds, nothing happened. Students with coffee, the notice board, laughter.

Then a girl near the notice board turned to her friend and whispered, her eyes on me.

Her friend looked. Another student looked.

Within seconds, the air changed.

"Wait. Isn't that Chloe Hart?"

"That's her. The girl from UT Confessions?"

"The girl who lost her baby?"

My stomach tightened.

Keep walking.

"Honestly, I don't understand what Jace ever saw in her."

"Please. Jenna is much prettier."

A few laughed, like my pain was gossip.

"Look at her pretending nothing happened."

My eyes burned. I refused to cry. Not here.

I tightened my grip on my bag and walked faster toward the lecture hall.

Then a hand—warm, firm—reached for mine.

I startled.

Sterling Brooks.

He didn't ask if I was okay. He didn't shout at them.

He just held my hand and started walking.

I was too shocked to pull away.

Behind us, whispers exploded louder.

"Is that Sterling?!"

"He's holding her hand!"

"Since when does Sterling Brooks hold hands with girls?"

We reached the classroom. He opened the door. Conversations inside died mid-sentence.

I automatically went to my usual seat—second row, near the window. Normally, Sterling sat two rows behind me. Every semester, that had been his spot. But today, he didn't go to his seat. He pulled out the chair right beside me and sat down.

He released my hand. I felt cold immediately where his fingers had been.

Then I saw them.

Third row. Jace and Jenna.

My heart stopped.

Jace stared at our hands, then at me. His mouth parted like he wanted to stand up. He shifted forward in his seat.

"Chloe—"

Jenna instantly clutched her stomach.

"Ahh, Jace, my stomach hurts. It hurts so much."

Her voice was loud enough for half the class to hear.

Jace hesitated, his eyes still on me for a brief moment. Something flickered across his face, almost like concern, before Jenna let out another pained sound.

He sat back immediately, bending toward her, all his attention switching to her.

"Are you okay? Do you need water? Should I take you to the clinic?"

He pampered her, rubbing her back and whispering to her. Jenna leaned into him, then looked straight at me over his shoulder with that winning smile.

The _He's mine now_ smile.

The girls behind us sighed.

"Aww, they are so cute."

"Seriously, couple goals."

"Jenna is so lucky."

They switched sides so quickly.

Last semester, those same girls had said the exact same thing when I was with Jace.

Aww, Chloe and Jace are so cute. Couple goals.

Same voices. Same tone.

How could they forget so quickly?

I watched how Jenna clutched her stomach. Something about it felt rehearsed, but perhaps I was just looking for reasons to dislike her.

My mind flashed to the ultrasound I had found in Jace's truck before I was rushed to the hospital. It had said Jenna was eight weeks pregnant when I saw it.

Then I remembered her I*******m post from yesterday—10 weeks already! with her hand resting on her stomach.

Ten weeks.

I tried to remember the dates. Jace hadn't even been in town for ten days during Spring Break. He'd been away for his cousin's wedding out of state.

For a moment, I wondered if there was something about Jenna's pregnancy that I didn't know.

But my head was already spinning. I was struggling just to sit in the same classroom as the two people who had hurt me most. I couldn't afford to start questioning every little thing when I barely had the strength to deal with what I already knew.

I pushed the thought away and focused on my notebook.

Every time I lifted my head, I could feel Jenna's smile burning into me.

At one point, I glanced toward the front of the classroom.

Tyler Reid was sitting near the aisle, a few seats away from Jenna and Jace.

She had been watching Sterling.

When he pulled out the chair beside me and sat down, her gaze dropped briefly to the space between us before returning to his face.

Something changed in her expression. Her lips pressed into a thin line, and she looked away.

A few minutes later, she closed her notebook, shoved it into her bag, and stood.

One of the girls beside her asked something, but Tyler shook her head and walked out without answering.

I watched the door swing shut behind her.

I had no idea why Sterling sitting beside me had bothered her so much.

Sterling didn't appear to notice her departure. He continued taking notes, his expression unreadable.

I turned back to my own notebook.

I had enough problems already. I didn't need to invent new ones.

Professor Lee entered and started the lecture. I barely wrote half of it.

After the lecture, Sterling closed his notebook and looked at me.

"Come with me," he said. "There is something you need to see."

Heads turned instantly as we stepped into the corridor. He led me to a quieter wing where nobody stood. His hand was still holding his notebook tight, like whatever was inside it, he didn't want anyone else to see.